“We’ve found that, contrary to nutritional dogma, all calories are not created equal,” said obesity expert Dr. David Ludwig, who led a recent study.

“Total calories burned plummeted by 300 calories on the low-fat diet compared to the low-carbohydrate diet, which would equal the number of calories typically burned in an hour of moderate-intensity physical activity.”

Low-Carb Diets Stem Pro-Inflammatory Blood Sugar Spikes

Ludwig, a physician, said low-carb diets are effective for weight loss because they reduce the surge in blood sugar after a meal. Spikes in blood sugar fuel inflammation, a key driver of both weight gain and chronic disease.

Researchers found the low-carb diet was the best for weight loss and reducing inflammation, while the low-fat diet was the worst. These results confirm similar studies, which suggest LCHF diets like Atkins, ketogenic and Paleo can produce rapid weight loss without hunger or obsessive calorie counting.

“Clinical trials have shown the [low-carb, high-fat] Paleo diet is the optimum diet that can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, markers of inflammation, help with weight loss, reduce acne, promote optimum health and athletic performance,” said Dr. Loren Cordain, author of The Paleo Answer.

Carb Restriction Is the Silver Bullet for Metabolic Syndrome

Dr. Jeff Volek, a pioneer in the low-carb, high-fat movement and professor at the University of Connecticut, agrees. What fuels weight gain and disease is inflammation — which is caused by a high-carb diet — especially one high in sugar, Volek told me.

“Carbohydrate restriction is the proverbial ‘silver bullet’ for managing insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes,” said Volek, author of New Atkins for a New You. “The medical profession continues to recommend a high-carb diet, which exacerbates the problem. It boggles the mind.”

When we restrict carbs, we force our bodies to burn fat as fuel, which is why low-carb diets such as the Atkins, Paleo and ketogenic diets have proven effective for weight loss, said Volek, a registered dietician who has a Ph.D. in kinesiology.

Because dietary fat has a negligible impact on insulin, eating it doesn’t produce surges in our blood glucose and blood insulin the way ingesting carbs does. More importantly, we don’t fuel inflammation in our bodies, which causes aging and leads to obesity, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

And because fat is more satiating than carbs — or even protein — you don’t feel deprived on low-carb high-fat Atkins, Paleo or ketogenic diets the way you do on a low-fat diet, said obesity expert Dr. Eric Westman, co-author of Keto Clarity.

“Eat lots of fat,” said Dr. Westman. “Fat makes you feel full. There’s no problem with fat. In fact, saturated fat, the fat that we’ve been taught not to eat, raises your good cholesterol best of all the foods you can eat.”